Facebook's service, part of its Internet.org platform, provided access to some basic websites for no charge, but had been criticised for effectively blocking the vast majority of online content.

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The ruling by India telecoms regulator (TRAI) wasn't aimed specifically at Facebook but at all "discriminatory tariffs". Critics of such efforts argued that data providers should not favour some services over others.

In a statement TRAI said its ruling would "disallow service providers to offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services". The defence of net neutrality, the principle that all web services should be open to everyone, is a major blow for Facebook's plans on the sub-continent.

Free Basics was blocked temporarily in India last December while the regulator decided on what action to take against it and other "discriminatory" services.

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Facebook's Internet.org program has launched in 36 countries to date, mostly in Africa, Asia and South America. It has met its fieriest opposition in India, where internet rights and advocacy groups have labelled it "disingenuous". The social network reportedly spent more than £30m promoting Free Basics in India, but that campaign failed to mollify its critics. "It is concerning that Facebook -- which says it supports net neutrality -- would attack those who have sought to enshrine this fundamental principle in law," a collection of 31 groups wrote in an open letter on Facebook.

Writing in The Times of India in December 2015, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued there was "no valid basis for denying people the choice to use Free Basics". He compared the service to a public library, which "don't contain every book" but still "provide a world of good".

Zuckerberg wrote that Free Basics wasn't about Facebook's commercial interests, or building a "walled garden" around the internet, but about connecting those who can't afford full internet access.